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Profile: AJ Styles
After starting out in 1999 in National Championship Wrestling, which merged with NWA Georgia that year to form NWA Wildside, AJ Styles worked briefly for World Championship Wrestling in 2001 as one half of the Air Raid tag team, with former Wildside rival Air Paris. They competed in the tournament to crown the first WCW Cruiserweight Tag Team Champions, losing in the first round.
When WCW was purchased by the World Wrestling Federation, Styles returned to Wildside and worked a few low-key matches for the WWF. In April 2002, he declined a developmental contract, as relocating to train with the Heartland Wrestling Association would disrupt his wife's higher education and he believed he could earn more money on the independent circuit. In the same month, he won an Australian one-night tournament in his pay-per-view debut to become the World Wrestling All-Stars International Cruiserweight Champion, a title he would later vacate. Before April was out, he had debuted for Ring Of Honor. The following month, he also became a part of Total Nonstop Action Wrestling.
Quickly rising to the top of ROH, Styles continued to establish himself as a hot commodity on the indy scene, turning heads with his innovative moves and high-flying abilities. At the promotion's Second Anniversary Show, he won another one-night tournament to become the first Pure Wrestling Champion. He would also vacate this belt however, when TNA pulled all contracted wrestlers from ROH. He would later return, participating in a feud with Jimmy Rave's Embassy and competing for the ROH World and Tag Team Titles.
Meanwhile in TNA, Styles became a poster boy for the equally young promotion, appearing on the first weekly pay-per-view and going on to become the first TNA X Division Champion the following week. On the third show, he won tournament with Jerry Lynn to add one half of the NWA World Tag Team Titles to his waist. A falling-out with Lynn however would eventually cost him both belts.
In early 2003 as a heel, AJ aligned himself with Vince Russo's Sports Entertainment Xtreme faction to feud for Jeff Jarrett's NWA World Heavyweight Title, but turned babyface to prevent his allies interfering on his behalf. On June 11 however, he showed his true colors when assisted by Russo to defeat Jarrett and Raven in a three-way match, winning the World Title and becoming TNA's first "triple crown" winner in the process. On the company's first anniversary show, he teamed with Syxx-Pac in a loss to Jarrett and Sting. In October, he lost the championship back to Jeff, and the pair traded roles with Jarrett turning heel while Styles turned face once more, continuing their feud.
The following two years, having been voted "Mr TNA" by fans in January '04, Styles continued to feud with various heels from Jarrett to Abyss to Raven, and added further title reigns across all divisions to his resumé. In early 2005, he had his first of many TNA matches against Christopher Daniels, losing the X Divison Title under sudden death rules following a thirty-minute Iron Man match. By the end of the year, both Styles and Daniels were defending the X Division code against aggressive newcomer Samoa Joe, creating a series of matches involving the three into 2006.
Daniels and AJ continued to pool their resources with two NWA World Tag Team Title reigns in '06, eventually losing the gold to the Latin American Exchange. At Genesis in November, Styles blamed Daniels for a singles loss to Christian Cage, and the team went their separate ways. Rhyno, who had recently feuded with his former friend Christian, tried to talk sense into an unappreciative AJ, leading to a feud between them that solidified a new cocky and opportunistic heel character for Styles, who went on to align himself with a newly turned Cage in early 2007.
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